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8/3/2025
WT Staff
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August 3, 2025 1215 pm EDT
Climate Files: Fairmont Royal York path to Net Zero, the largest heritage building retrofit in North America
District Energy Case - The Fairmont Royal York Hotel
In the days when the Port of Toronto was wet right up to Front Street and rail lines occupied the downtown scene, the iconic Royal York Hotel rose up from its foundations toward the end of Toronto's roaring twenties. It was the largest hotel in the British Empire of the day, situated at the gate of the booming financial centre on Front Street between Bay and Yonge, adjoining rail transport hub, Union Station. Still the largest of the Fairmont line, the grand hotel filled five ballrooms with impeccably dressed guests on opening night in July 1929. Independent heat and power supported over 1300 guest rooms, ballrooms, meeting rooms and retail shops. Uniformed power technicians, telephone operators, cooks and servers, housekeepers, door personnel and guest concierge numbered in the hundreds. Royal York maintained a magnificent library, with a surgical theatre for the those too important to be seen in public hospital. Teams of black horses with drivers and footmen transported guest golfers 25 miles to the greens, easily a day-long affair.
See the Royal York, here.
In ninety-six years, some things have not changed. Uniformed doormen still usher in guests from around the world. The dedicated entrance and upper level wing remains ready for visiting Royals. The lobby is impeccably adorned with elaborate holiday-themed live floral art installations. Restaurants and shops still provide classic personal services from tailored suits to hot shave and haircuts, salons and world-class spa services. Lovers and dreamers still meet at the Clock, tycoons and moguls seal deals at the Library Bar. The Royal York Hotel has modernized of course. Operators are no longer needed for the switchboard room, the surgical suite is gone. The library that once delivered the world's news in ink and paper has been replaced with access to the world wide web of information, the backbone of Canada's internet architecture runs right past the hotel.
In November 2023, Royal York Hotel became the largest heritage building to achieve Canada Green Building Council’s (CAGBC’s) Zero Carbon Building – Performance Standard. The retrofit took five years and $65 million dollars to design and execute, according to investor/owner KingSett Capital. Connected to the downtown District Energy (DE) loop for heating, cooling and domestic hot water, the hotel operates today with a fraction of its prior annual carbon emissions, a reduction of about 80%.
General Contractor, PCL Construction Services started the work prior to the Covid lockdown era, during which time, the hotel was fully operational. In February 2022, the DE owner/operator and Continual Energy, the design builder, got to work on transitioning the grand hotel with a new heating and cooling system. According to the International District Energy Association (IDEA), "the team collaborated to create a solution that leverages year-round waste heat from Enwave’s Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC) network and Ontario’s clean electricity grid and replaces an existing on-site chiller plant with a new DLWC plant and an advanced oil-free modular heat pump system." Enwave Energy, the DE operator and Continual were presented with International District Energy Association (IDEA's) Innovation Award in 2024.
In 2024, the Royal York had been connected to a steam heating system formerly managed by the City since the 1960's. The 2020-era upgrade allowed for connection to Enwave's Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC) system. Recovered thermal energy from the potable water system now provides air conditioning for 1.5 million square feet of lobby, ballrooms and 1346 guest rooms. The hotel now draws minimally on the Toronto Hydro electrical grid during peak demand hours.
Senior Director of Engineering and Capital Projects Herman Gonzales explained how the grand old hotel achieved the Net Zero status. Decarbonization of the OPG electric generation mix was the first step enabling RY to approach the goal of Net Zero, as Gonzales explained, the majority of Royal York's emissions reductions relate to heating. DLWC complements green heating, adding a second, smaller margin of decarbonization to the effort. Less run-time for the mechanical chillers has the added benefit of reducing the use of refrigerant chemicals.
Working on the infrastructure upgrade while the hotel remained open was an incredible challenge, says Gonzales. Most commercial buildings are closed at night enabling noisy work for a full shift. The entire Royal York retrofit was completed in blocks of five hours each day. The end result was recognized with Net Zero status, Continual Energy and Fairmont Royal York receiving the Innovation Award from International District Energy Association (IDEA)in 2024.
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